Product Description
Unleash Your Inner Outlaw with the Ride Mutant
Prepare to defy the norms with the Ride Mutant, an unruly force that dares to challenge the status quo. Drawing inspiration from renowned surf-skis, our visionary designer, James, sought to infuse the sharpness of turns and acceleration into a closed cockpit kayak. Undoubtedly, it’s one of the most underrated surf kayaks on the market, ready to revolutionize your surfing experience.
While we won’t sugarcoat it, the Mutant is not easy to paddle. But when it hits its stride, hold on tight! Its deep hull vee and optimal width deliver unparalleled acceleration and speed. Switching edges becomes a breeze, allowing you to hold the most radical turns, all thanks to the deck’s strategic positioning pulled back from the rail. Get ready to elevate your game and ascend to the next level of performance.
Specifications:
– Length: 226 cm
– Width: 62.5 cm
– Cockpit: Keyhole
– Maximum Paddler Weight: 110 kgs
Included Features:
– Bonded front and rear mini cell foam pillars
– Ride shaped foam seat with hip pads
– Ride ‘Bloc’ minicell foam backrest
– Set of minicell foam foot blocks
– 3 fins in standard thruster designs (also available in 4 or 5 fin setup)
– Optional composite thigh braces
– One-piece cockpit (Eclipse, Equinox, Mutant, and Zenith)
Customisable Fit:
– Each boat comes with a surform to shape the backrest and other foam parts for a personalized fit.
Embrace your rebellious side and tap into the untapped potential of the Ride Mutant. This underrated surf kayak will redefine your expectations and unlock a new realm of performance in the water. Prepare to break free from convention and embark on an extraordinary surfing journey like never before.
Mutant
Eclipse
Zenith
Nathan Eades – :
Ride Mutant:
Yet another high performance wave machine has joined the line-up and yet again Ride surf kayaks are responsible. The Mutant is the raw, untamed cousin of the Zenith slipping into the Ride range to serve those seeking a surf craft which will dominate in the pocket of a steep, critical wave. Due to its short length, the Mutant does not feel as though it will excel in all waves and conditions, but thanks to its rocker profile it hops onto the plane quickly and flies across steep walls.
For the thrill seeking, hard-core surf kayakers who want to surf shore break, steep reef and stick critical drops on high performance waves…Ride have designed a great toy for you!
The first thing I noticed when I collected the Mutant from Ride HQ was the lack of rocker from the cockpit backwards and the short length of the kayak. The other feature which stands out when you look at this surf craft is the increased volume around the mid-section of the deck. The volume, combined with the oversized cockpit rim, enables large (and small) paddlers to enter the kayak and surf this short, high performance surf kayak. Ride have invested a lot of time when designing the outfitting of the Mutant which not only has plenty of foot room and a padded seat, but also features ergonomically formed thigh braces. As with all kayaks in the range, the Mutant has a built-in cockpit rim guaranteeing a watertight seal with your deck and adding to the overall high quality finish of the kayaks.
The Mutant’s hull is really quite unique and very different to any other surf vessel I have seen. Along the centre of the kayak, the hull has a V which channels the water into a very aggressively pronounced double concave running along the back third and finishes with a tail shaped into a
batwing. During testing this hull and tail shape, combined with the quad fin set up, seemed to
generate a lot of speed for such a short boat – at times I felt the Mutant was generating as much speed as a boat carrying a foot more length. The reason for the reduced length is due to the shortened tail enabling you to perform tight bottom turns sending the kayak back up the face of thewave more vertically.
The deck shares some similarities with the Zenith such as: the concaved side walls and low volume nose. These features enable the surfer to switch rails and flick the kayak around quickly, throwing up lots of spray in the process…Ride seem to have nailed this formula and, as a result, are sending designs into the market place which match the speed of competitor models, yet enable the user to execute turns and manoeuvres effortlessly.
So does the Mutant have a place in my quiver? Obsoletely! It is a super fun, rip-able kayak which is perfect for steep-wave- days. For surfers looking for an all-round surf kayak which will carry its speed along mushy waves, I do not think the Mutant is a good choice as Ride has other options for you in their range. If you are searching for a comfortable boat to surf in vertical, powerful waves, then the Mutant should be on your Christmas list this year!
Pros
Fast on steep, critical waves
Highly manoeuvrable
Comfortable
Dynamic
Suitable for a wide range of paddler size and weight
Cons
Lacks versatility for a range of conditions
Requires a larger spray deck
Mike Barry – :
Where to start with this review…
The mutant is a tale of many different boats.
Tri fin and quad fin are so different, and seat position dramatically changes how it paddles and turns. With a little playing about, there is so many sweet spots.
First off me.
I’m in that zone where I feel a little heavy for the zenith, and a little too light for the Solar.
In the solar, I had so much room very comfortable, and in the zenith, i can just about squeeze in.
The mutant fits like a glove. With the thigh hooks installed and a slightly raised seat, I needed to do very little outfitting. It has a high deck that always good fit, but cuts away in the nose keeping it low volume and allowing it the slice through turns.
I’ve surfed the mutant in all conditions, small and large.
My mutant allows for both tri and quad fin setups.
I mostly surf quad, which is reviewed below, but tri fin really mellows out the boat, for those interested in a slightly tamer beast.
To start, the boat is hard to paddle, such a short tail means it sits low in the water and drags a little.
I’ve found moving the seat forward and raising it means i can do this effectively, but it is not fast. On the plus side, its easy to hop waves and duckdive.
The slow paddlespeed however does not effect catching waves, the wide tail and high volume gets the boat into waves nice and quick. The short tail also makes it quick to tail dip and boost into waves, a cool fun feeling that leads to lightspeed drops.
Because of this, even on small waves you can get a fast take off if you time it right.
In small waves, the short tail means you can milk extra turns in super fast and still get back down the line due to low rocker.
But the real fun is big waves….
The boat is insane, wickedly fast, twitchy, nervous. Not for beginners, but an awful lot of fun. In the big surf, guys on ski’s were beginning to skip and hop, the mutant stayed smooth, no hops, but then when it releases its instant air, even in turns, thats gonna take a while to get use to.
I’m truly blown away by the speed. Over 40km/h on a wave.
With big concave vee hull running the length, it can hold a very high line on a steep wave, and can turn super sharp instantly when you want to.
Turns happen so quickly and you can snap a mini cut back in places you think you need to gun out of the pocket.
It much prefers the pocket, I found steep and fast sections of the wave it was more stable and predictable, and its when you slow down you notice more nervousness, When it gets all white and foamy, it becomes a handful, but it’s kinda funny too.
I found with fins where I normally put them, its very drivey but the tail can slip, I’m running them almost all the way back in the box and its perfect, pivots fast and early, so much drive. You can literally feel the pressure off the fins and rail.
It climbs really quickly on the wave.
Tri Fin –
In tri fin,
its like adding training wheels, its a little less drivey, but also much more stable and less nervous on a wave. You can still climb quickly and hold a high line( not as high as quad fin though ), allowing drops and bursts of speed, turns snap and release quickly, throwing alot of spray out the bat shaped tail, and everything feels smooth and predictable.
You can still hit crazy speeds on the right wave and bottom turns up the wave are so sharp.
In conclusion –
The mutant is true to its name. Its unique, it has superpowers.
Its not for everyone, but anyone coming from a waveski, or anyone who likes steep and fast waves, This thing is so much fun. It will work in all conditions, but excels when things get big and fast.
Recommended for anyone confident enough to tame the beast 🙂